Fidelity to a program model and innovations added to the program model have been found to positively impact large scale program expansion and implementation (Blakely et al., 1987). Research examining the effectiveness of Healthy Families America (HFA) programs has been hindered by the differences that exist among HFA programs. This study examines the impact program fidelity and innovations have on outcome measures of updated immunizations, primary medical care providers, and participant retention for 102 HFA sites. Factor analysis and regression were used to analyze archival data. Results indicate that fidelity was positively related to percentage of participants with updated immunizations and primary medical care providers. Innovations, specifically additional services offered to participants and additional training opportunities for HFA staff, had positive relationships with participant retention.

In 2012, federal legislation introduced a requirement for formal transportation asset management (TAM) in transportation agencies. The law specifically requires agencies to develop TAM plans and implement TAM programs in their decision-making processes. The history of national policy development for (TAM) and research in policy implementation and organizational theory have shown that program sustainment is not easily achieved. Often, agencies can respond to this kind of legislative mandate with ineffective efforts to achieve legitimacy that reduce the likelihood for the program to be sustained in the long-term. This presents a challenge because without sustainment, the benefits of TAM, which are mostly long-term, may not be fully realized. The objective of this work was to develop a conceptual framework to guide transportation agencies to review their TAM implementation practices and identify opportunities to enhance long-term program sustainment. The conceptual basis for the framework comes from a synthesis of transportation, policy and program implementation, and change management literature, supported by insight from a panel of practitioner and academic experts. The TAM Implementation Review Framework (TIRF) incorporates seven themes of implementation factors that can promote sustainment of TAM practices impacting the social, organizational, and programmatic elements of implementation. The TIRF was applied in case studies to review the TAM implementation processes of three Departments of Transportation (DOTs) resulting in different kinds of information on how implementation activities address factors related to program sustainment. These results can steer future implementation activities in DOTs towards increased probabilities of achieving long-term program sustainment. The primary contributions of this work lie in the development of the conceptual framework and approach to enhance TAM implementation by emphasizing the people and organizational elements of TAM, alongside with the technical. In practice, the TIRF offers agencies a review and planning tool to support TAM implementation decision making and to promote program sustainment. The output is being proposed as a foundational element in the development of an evidence-based catalog of TAM implementation strategies. This can facilitate inter-agency knowledge sharing by providing a platform for systematic documentation of implementation experiences to support broader adoption of strategies that can contribute to increased program sustainment.

No description available.

New programming, such as the Specialist High Skills Major has been implemented in Ontario as part of the Student Success Learning to 18 Strategy to increase secondary graduation rates. Yet it has been unclear if this type of programming is actually improving student outcomes. As a result, this study asks: How does the implementation of the Specialist High Skills Majors (SHSM) contribute to student outcomes? Sub-research questions inquire about the consistency of the SHSM across Ontario, which students the SHSM has the greatest impact on academic success and if participation in the SHSM increases students’ academic success as defined by credit accumulation, marks, and graduation. The conceptual framework in this study is an amended version of Fullan’s (2007) critical factors that affect policy implementation. The study’s methods first included reviewing Ontario School Information System data on student achievement in the SHSM program. Interviews with thirty-four people also took place in eight schools from a mix of four geographically diverse Catholic and public school districts in Ontario that had high student enrollment in the SHSM program. While there were many findings within this study, four were key. The first finding was that there was great consistency to some aspects of implementing the SHSM program province-wide when there was top-down direction, while there was also great variability in other areas where there was increased flexibility. The second key finding centers around the role of leadership, including effective styles of leadership, consistency in leadership, and the importance of delegating leadership responsibility. The third finding highlights the importance of resources in implementing change. The last finding discusses the type of SHSM student that is most successful in the SHSM program and how program implementation directly affects student success.

New programming, such as the Specialist High Skills Major has been implemented in Ontario as part of the Student Success Learning to 18 Strategy to increase secondary graduation rates. Yet it has been unclear if this type of programming is actually improving student outcomes. As a result, this study asks: How does the implementation of the Specialist High Skills Majors (SHSM) contribute to student outcomes? Sub-research questions inquire about the consistency of the SHSM across Ontario, which students the SHSM has the greatest impact on academic success and if participation in the SHSM increases students’ academic success as defined by credit accumulation, marks, and graduation. The conceptual framework in this study is an amended version of Fullan’s (2007) critical factors that affect policy implementation. The study’s methods first included reviewing Ontario School Information System data on student achievement in the SHSM program. Interviews with thirty-four people also took place in eight schools from a mix of four geographically diverse Catholic and public school districts in Ontario that had high student enrollment in the SHSM program. While there were many findings within this study, four were key. The first finding was that there was great consistency to some aspects of implementing the SHSM program province-wide when there was top-down direction, while there was also great variability in other areas where there was increased flexibility. The second key finding centers around the role of leadership, including effective styles of leadership, consistency in leadership, and the importance of delegating leadership responsibility. The third finding highlights the importance of resources in implementing change. The last finding discusses the type of SHSM student that is most successful in the SHSM program and how program implementation directly affects student success.

Background: Working memory (WM) refers to a system responsible for temporarily storing and manipulating information. It is recognised as having a key role in supporting children’s learning. Research has suggested that targeted interventions can lead to improvements in children’s WM capacity or strategies to increase its efficiency. Some interventions, largely computer-based but also practical, claim to address the needs of whole classes. There is relatively little research concerned with the implementation of such programmes as whole class interventions. Participants: Two Year 5 classes from separate schools received two WM interventions, MeeMo and Memory Booster. Six students from each class were selected to create two focus groups. Both class teachers also participated in the research. Methods: A mixed methods design was utilised, with an emphasis on qualitative data. Each class received a randomly allocated six week intervention implemented by the class teacher. Fidelity and dosage were monitored through the use of structured observations and an implementation diary completed by the class teachers. Two student focus groups and two semi-structured teacher interviews were conducted. The in-built monitoring provisions of each intervention were also investigated. Analysis/Findings: All qualitative data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings were presented as thematic maps, exploring the facilitators and barriers for implementation of each intervention. Quantitative data gathered through each interventions monitoring provision were analysed using descriptive statistics to inform discussion around the perceived outcomes. Conclusion/Implications: The study extends understanding of the context-specific implementation factors involved in using MeeMo and Memory Booster as whole class interventions and explores the utility of the monitoring provision of each intervention. A framework for effective implementation was developed and specific recommendations for both programme developers and school staff are provided.

No description available.

There is compelling evidence that helping adolescents develop certain traits (especially related to resiliency) can mitigate the confounding effects of suicide. Specific demographics of youth appear to have higher rates of suicidal behavior including those with mental health diagnoses and educational disabilities that affect students' academic achievement. We looked at evidence based social and emotional learning programs (SEL) that fostered adaptive coping skills and resilience. We identified Strong Teens (Carrizales-Engelmann, Merrell, Feuerborn, Gueldner, & Tran, 2016) as a program that could be easily administered and adapted into traditional and nontraditional school settings. This study was conducted in a residential treatment center (RTC) for adolescent males. The RTC permitted one of their therapists to implement the Strong Teens over the course of two consecutively run groups. Group 1 included seven boys and Group 2 included four boys. We relied on the therapist's self-assessment of modifications made to the program; the researcher's field notes collected during observations; emails between the therapist and researcher; the researcher's notes taken during conversations between the therapist and researcher; monthly Youth Outcome Questionnaire Self Report (Y-OQ-SR) test scores; youth Strong Teens pre and post test scores; and youth exit surveys conducted in one-one interviews at the conclusion of the Strong Teens lessons. Fidelity of program implementation was measured by the therapist and researcher completing the Strong Teens fidelity checklist (included in the Strong Teens manual). Based on collected data, we make the following recommendations: Adapt the Strong Teens program to increase student participation and receptiveness; carefully consider the size of the group, taking into account the capacity of the group leader to manage the group's behaviors and attend to individual needs; consider conducting groups sessions in settings that help youth feel safe and comfortable--groups held outside may be preferable to groups held inside classrooms; mental health professionals and teachers who lead the Strong Teens lessons may consider learning about a variety of basic therapeutic strategies and how these strategies might fit participants' needs; when evaluating the effectiveness of Strong Teens, carefully gather, consider, and contextualize a variety of data (quantitative and qualitative) from a variety of sources (youth participants, group leaders, and others who interact with the youth); in addition to focusing on teaching information and skills, group leaders must consider motivational strategies; focus initial conversations on why one would use such strategies to benefit oneself--later conversations may expand to include how strategies benefit others.

Response to Intervention (RTI) programs are designed to support students at risk of failing in school due to academic or behavioral problems. When RTI programs are applied inconsistently due to teachers' resources or knowledge, students may be wrongly identified for special education services. The purpose of this qualitative bounded descriptive case study was to explore K-4 general education teachers' experiences with RTI program implementation and the extent teachers used the RTI program in their classrooms. This study was guided by Gagné's conditions of learning theory. A purposeful sampling of 10 K-4 general education teachers, who taught an RTI program, volunteered and participated in individual semistructured interviews and classroom observations. Data were analyzed thematically using open, axial, and thematic coding. Participants revealed they needed materials and time to prepare and use interventions and desired parental participation in team meetings. Numerous interventions, large class sizes, and scheduling constraints with specialists were obstacles implementing RTI. Academic specialists' expertise, teaching methods, and assessment data assisted planning and implementing RTI in the classroom. Teachers demonstrated a high frequency of events of learning in lessons. Based on the findings, it is recommended that district personnel develop a tiered system of teacher support and a shared vision for an RTI plan, provide teachers with necessary materials and resources to deliver instruction, and plan actions for parental involvement. These endeavors may contribute to positive change by improving general education teachers' instruction to help students at risk of failure to be successful, thus, reducing unnecessary special education referrals.

Parent-implemented interventions (PIIs) can be useful in promoting parents’ knowledge of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and in transferring necessary skills to children with ASD. Individuals with ASD can directly and indirectly benefit from PIIs in terms of academics, ASD symptom severity, behavior improvement, cognition, communication, and social skills. Many studies have explored the efficacy of PIIs; however, they have tended to report mixed effects. Previous meta-analyses and systematic reviews have been characterized by limited search terms and literature search procedures, emphases on published manuscripts, dependency on parent reports, dated findings, and comparisons across of different types of control groups. This study attempts to improve on the methodology of prior meta-analyses and to update findings of the effectiveness of PIIs for children and youth with ASD. We located 1925 studies at initial manuscript search in 9 databases. After additional search from other sources, 43 studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies with same participants were merged that yield 40 records for final data coding. Eligible studies coded in Dyches et al.’s meta-analysis (2018) combined with current data resulted in 53 randomized controlled trials for data analysis. The random effects model meta-analysis found a moderate and statistically significant effect (g = 0.55, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.65, p < 0.00001) on overall weighted effect size across 53 studies included. PIIs can improve child outcomes in positive behavior/social skill (g = 0.603), maladaptive behavior (g = 0.519), adaptive behavior/life skills (g = 0.239), and language/communication (g = 0.545). These findings are inconclusive and should be interpreted with caution, especially adaptive behavior/life skill because only six studies reported outcomes on that variable. No moderating variables were identified in post hoc random effects weighted analyses. Implications for future research are discussed.